cashing in at the expense of parents, students and teachers. windsor prep academy in pinellas county is $1 million in the hole. that's despite getting millions in state funding. now the pinellas county school district wants to know where that taxpayer money went and parents are furious about this. 8 on your side investigator mark douglas shows us why they are so concerned. >> reporter: keith, parents sent their children to windsor prep with a promise of a superior education and an independent charter school setting but what they have ended up with is a financial fiasco and a questionable future for their kids. trouble started for windsor prep two years ago when it failed to open on time. now parents are furious the charter school of about 800 kids is running a million dollar deficit. how can it keep operating with that kind of debt? >> it can't. >> reporter: some parents want to dump the private management company, newport education partners, because of the

>> the resources that the teachers need, they are not getting. the textbooks the kids need they are not getting. >> reporter: last week the school district letter blasted windsor for deteriorating finances, teacher turnover, a lack of curriculum, incomplete inventory records and unsubstantiated consulting fees in excess of $300,000. >> $300,000 in consulting fees that they can't explain? >> exactly. that is our major points because this is misuse of funds which could be going back to our academics for our school and our faculty and staff. >> reporter: windsor principal veronica fly refused to meet with us today. we are here to see miss fly. camera. here's her information. >> reporter: the principal later sent an e-mail insisting the district's letter is grossly inaccurate and insisted the 300,000 represents education partners. the school budget shows $568,000 allotted for board consultants this year.

>> man, come on. we are not blind, you know, and we are not stupid. >> reporter: where is the of this? it's nearly $1 million in debt, there's $300,000 in consulting fees unaccounted for. how does that happen? >> well, individual charter schools have oversight over the management of their schools but as good stewards of the taxpayer dollar it's our district's responsibility to make sure that those taxpayer dollars are being used correctly. >> reporter: the trouble is pinellas school district oversight comes largely after the fact the district has given windsor another week or so to submit a corrective action plan and the district could terminate the charter contract if that doesn't work out, keith. >> and you were telling me this management company has had troubles in the past. >> well, they have been forced to close schools in tampa and south florida, there's one that they are losing the contract in clearwater so they have had share share of troubles. they also had to give back a $75,000 federal grant last summer at this school because no one could say how they spent the money.

people are upset about this one. >> a lot of questions, yes. >> thank you. >> sure. and now to breaking news. the assistant fire chief accused of stealing a $3 energy drink resigned. authorities in clearwater tell us ronald ge nshime stepped down yesterday. they saw him put a 5-hour energy drink in his pocket and walk out of the store. he claimed he forgot to pay. also breaking tonight, another skimmer found at a bay area gas station. detectives found this one on a gas pump at the rally convenient store on main street in dun dunedin. they believe the device was installed yesterday. if you used a card at that rally gas station, check your bank accounts for any strange transactions. and a pasco county deputy has lost his job with the sheriff's office and it apparently started over a grudge with the drug suspect.

that deputy steven la blanc was out to get thomas parise, the deputy planted a syringe and crack pipe in parise's bag. he got the drug paraphernalia from parise's neighbor. >> the offense goes back to when he went after -- told her to go get me more stuff, you know, that was clearly a law enforcement officer breaking the law by trying to jam somebody up on charges that they weren't responsible for. >> that former deputy could face obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence charges. there was panic and fear inside a venice day care this morning when a car plowed through the wall there. a group of 15 preschoolers were inside at the time. news channel 8's john rogers joins us now live from that scene and, john, are all the kids okay? >> reporter: thankfully, stacie yes, they are okay. we are told three kids had minor scrapes and bruises which is a relief because as you're

quite a lot of damage. officials say at 9:00 this morning antoinetta tra tropea -- pa tropea was dropping off her grandchild when she plowed through this wall. inside 15 children were with an instructor as the bricks crumbled around them. >> it could have been much worse without question. the damage. the car pushed through about 4 feet into the building. the kids were frightened and out. >> shook up and scared. we had tears and some crying but we got them all through it. >> reporter: three kids had scrapes and bruises and one teacher was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. the driver is at a loss. >> i don't know what happened in the car. >> how did you come to be here? >> it was awful and i don't know the reason. >> reporter: soon after, parents quickly rushed over and took the kids home. as repairs commenced, the children will be transferred to area day cares. everyone involved is counting

different outcome. and the staff made quite a lot of progress cleaning up the mess here as you can see, troopers say the driver is likely at fault. she may have accidentally hit the accelerator and plowed into this wall. she has been charged with careless driving and for having an expired driver's license. stacie. >> boy, just lucky all those kiddos are okay. john rogers live in venice thank you. and now to your vote and a presidential candidates. states voting. hillary clinton and donald trump are expected to win big. new poll from cnn finds trump and clinton well ahead of their closest competitors. ted cruz, though, is hoping to pull out a win in his home state of texas where he is ahead in the polls. florida senator marco rubio is overall. he's also hoping to do extremely well in florida's today. >> we may see marco perform better than expected in places

think it's far from over. i think it's a three man race, i would certainly be confident in saying that. >> polls in the first of those super tuesday states close in less than an hour. donald trump, marco rubio and hillary clinton are holding campaign events right now in south florida. and florida's presidential preference primary is on march 15th, early voting is already underway in hillsborough and polk counties. you will find everything you need to know about voting in the primary on wfla.com. well, there is new support tonight for the hurricane hunter program. >> coming up we will show you what lawmakers are doing to pry to keep the aircraft in tampa bay. plus, you might think it's extreme but neighbors in this community tell us it's worth it. what's being used to catch irresponsible dog owners who don't pick up after their pooches. great warm day for the bay area. temperatures reaching upper 70s, some low 80s in some of the inland areas and that's a sign that we are definitely

not hard to believe it's march 1st. we will also look at slight rain chances, a cold front headed in tomorrow. we will have that coming up. we will have that and more coming up. you're watching news channel 8, the station that's always on

now to breaking news, part

clearwater is shut down right now after a car hit a bicyclist. this is a live look at the scene from eagle 8 hd. our reporter paul lamison up in eagle 8 joining us. >> reporter: here's where the bicycle is, the bicyclist was hit somewhere on eastbound golf to bay boulevard and they were transported to the hospital and you can see the problem with traffic is two of the lanes are closed while they do their investigation. one lane is getting through, this is just before the bay side bridge on gulf to bay boulevard so you need to avoid scene. the bicyclist hit and transported to the hospital. in eagle 8 hd, paul lamison, well, more lawmakers are joining the call to keep noah's -- noaa's hurricane hunter aircraft local. the planes must leave macdill

sent noaa a letter saying they want the program to remain in florida, preferably in tampa bay. they want noaa employees involved in the process of finding a new location. governor rick scott was in pinellas park today to honor dozens of veterans who served our country. he handed out the governor's veterans' service awards to 171 floridians who served in all branches of the military. veterans we spoke with told us it means a lot to hear those words thank you. >> proud to be here, i'm going to frame this and hang it on the wall at the house with -- >> i always hear veterans say this was the first time he was thanked so to be a part of that and be here with the governor on these ceremonies -- >> handing out more medals in winter haven later on this month. here's something you can talk about with friends and family. using a high tech method to go after irresponsible dog owners? >> it's pretty clever. a community with a common complaint, people aren't

and we are going to show you the lengths they are going to

extreme measure pet owners pick up after their dog. a community is creating a dog edna database. they want to use dna testing who nab people who don't clean up what their dog leaves behind. >> somebody might say this is

of people believe it's worth the money. jamaicajamel janee joining us. >> reporter: this is a very interesting story indeed. this could be costly for that dog owner who gets bust for not cleaning up -- busted for not cleaning up after their dog. they are saying someone needed to do something about this stinky situation. summer stiles says she has had enough. >> they won't pick it up. why not pick it up? >> reporter: poop here, poop there, poop everywhere. the osprey run resident says yard. >> i have to do it at least three, four times a week. i have to pick up somebody else's dog stuff when i'm picking up my own. >> reporter: now the hoa is hoping to nab irresponsible owners testing dog dna. >> i think it's a little bit ridiculous just because the people who do take care of

their pets are being penalized for the people who are being lazy. >> i don't think that it needs to be that extreme. like i don't know if taking samples and testing dna is really that serious. >> reporter: dog owners will be required to pay a $35 registration fee for each dog to create a database. if poop is collected, it will be sent off and tested. and if it comes back matching your pooch's dna, you could be paying for the test and a fine, a stinky situation that could result in a lean if unpaid -- lien if unpaid. >> i don't think that's fair. >> but others say something had to be done. >> people who pick up after their dogs don't like it, obviously -- who don't pick up after their dogs don't like it, >> reporter: there is a registered by march 11th. >> so when do they plan to do this? are they hoping to enforce this rule soon? >> reporter: yeah, again, they will be enforcing this pretty

done. deadline. >> thanks, jamel lenay live in river view. so far the opinions are split down the middle. 50% say dog dna testing goes too far, 50% say it's reasonable. go to wfla.com and cast your vote. a bradenton man has the ultimate bragging rights after winning the 2016 python challenge. bill booth and his teammates captured the most pythons, 33 of them. they also caught the longest python, 15 feet long. booth told us his strategy was catch the snakes in the early morning when they are less aggressive. >> snakes like to come out and get to the sunshine and warm themselves up and that's what we do, we try to find them when they come out of the water or out of the grass and get in the sun to sun themselves. >> so you get your snake before

that's the key right there. booth's team won an $8000 cash prize. they are scanning the pythons to use for leather goods. in all 106 snakes were removed statewide. if you needed a reminder just how beautiful tampa bay is, here you go, eagle 8 hd flew above siesta key this morning. beachgoers got to enjoy clear skies and perfect temperatures, in the 70s across many areas. humidity is very comfortable, just the view is fantastic. brought to you in high definition from eagle 8 hd. what a gorgeous shot. look at that white sand, always voted one of the best beaches in the country right there. not a bad view here from clearwater beach, another best vote many times, clearwater beach at frenchy's, 67 degrees, sunshine, west winds at 3 miles per hour, winds are light. spring training, it's that time of year, games are being played now, 76 degrees in bradenton,

phillies and blue jays, 74 degrees. a few clouds tomorrow along with a slight chance of rain but i don't see a very good chance of a rainout for any of these games. temperatures tomorrow 61 degrees as the front approaches at 8:00 a.m. at noon more clouds, maybe a few sprinkles, 73 degrees at 3:00 p.m. as the front passes and then temperatures will drop just a little bit. from ryan hughes this morning, great shot as you can see with the clear water cause way. the weather max app, free to download. great to have in weather good and bad and severe. 74 degrees at noon, 73 degrees at 3:00 p.m. very comfortable temperatures, 76 degrees now brandon, should be a beautiful evening. comfortable for this time of year. temps a little bit mild as you -- or warm, rather, for this time of year if you look at the averages. 75 lakeland, 77 degrees in sebring. area of low pressure across the northern part of the country, trailing cold front, rain for parts of the south, another area of low pressure in texas

great lakes, places like michigan and a little bit in wisconsin pushing toward new york and sections of new england. this is all rain cleveland southward maybe a little bit of a wintry mix there as well just northeast of cleveland. high pressure continues back to our west. some of these high clouds have been moving our way but lots of sunshine as you can see from those images that we showed you. again, some of these high clouds will continue to be in the sky for tomorrow along with more substantial cloudiness as this front moves our way. it's a cold front but not going to have a huge impact on our weather. it will recool things a little bit but we are not expecting severe weather, anything like that, typically we can kind of prepare ourselves for that kind of weather but that's not going to happen here. low pressure moving in, you can see around 10:00 a.m. the timing on the rpm forecast model, then pushing farther southward, see a bit of a wind shift and that will help to draw in slightly cooler air for a short period of time. that will set up a great thursday for us, a quiet forecast with a slightly chilly thursday morning but the sunshine should make for a great day in the afternoon. 69 degrees evening temperature, enjoy this one.

bit warm for this time of year, say the averages, but the cold front will come through later in the day. 74 degrees for thursday, as we get into friday, you can see 74 degrees with a slight rain chance and another cold front that doesn't really have much impact on us either. but it will set up a beautiful weekend giving us temperatures mid and upper 70s saturday, sunday and then by next week monday, tuesday, upper 70s, near 80 degrees. that, ladies and gentlemen is a fantastic forecast. >> that is a fantastic forecast. >> that was good from beginning to end. showed us the beach, the beauty, the forecast. >> the images in the see evident at that key -- siesta key -- the tampa bay rays will play a game in cuba later this month. an important deadline passing by this afternoon that could affect the future of the bucs running back doug martin.

barring a last minute deal from now until next wednesday, bucs running back doug martin will enter the world of free agency. the bucs chose not to use their league mandated franchise tag to protect the nfl second leading rusher in 2015. he was a topic debated for weeks before today's franchise tag deadline. what this essentially means is martin is free to start chatting with other nfl teams as early as next monday and can sign with another team beginning wednesday. had the bucs used the franchise tag, martin would have been owed more than $11 million this year, they are banking on offers coming in much lower than that number. how fitting on the last day of february the lightning's chase for first place in the

still have 19 games to go but their seventh consecutive win last night represented a mountain climb that would have buried most teams in the nfl -- nhl this year and did not get any better for bolts fans than seeing tyler johnson scoring both games in the 2-1 win over toronto, one night after taking a puck to the head in boston. johnson is one of the players overcoming injuries already and the mere fact that he played at all monday inspired the locker room. >> nice that we can, you know, still not really play the greatest of games but get a win so three games, four nights on the road, get three wins out of there, i think we are feeling pretty good about ourselves. it happened all pretty quick. i think it broke the visor and the adviser cut me so -- visor cut me so i think that's probably better than getting hit straight by a puck so kind of a weird thing. >> ouch. johnson was not the only player had ultrain that boston game -- hurt in that boston

today the nhl suspended renaldo for five games. yankees pitcher chapman suspended 30 games today under major league baseball's domestic violence policy. chapman not going to appeal that ruling. and in three weeks this will be keith cate's office. they are doing speed renovations as we speak at cuba's national baseball stadium in advance of the rays' arrival to play the cuban national team on the 22nd. it is now official. president barack obama expected to attend. he's going to be in havana we know during that time but you saw they were giving a nice paint job. they heard he was coming. >> i hope i get that close. it's entirely possible. i'm way outside looking in. but should be a fascinating trip not only for all of the players of the rays. going to be a heck of a game. the president going to be there. >> and broadcast on national

>> we are excited for your coverage. >> yeah. looking forward to it. nightly news is up next. have a great my. jen and steve back at 7:00.

breaking news tonight. we're minutes from the first poll closures as voters in a dozen states have their say. a dramatic night in the race for president as donald trump and hillary clinton try to pull away from the pack. also tonight, high-stakes showdune as the fight between apple and the fbi moves from the courtroom to congress. new twists in a battle that has major implications on your privacy and national security. living a nightmare. an emotional erin andrews back on the stand describing the daily horror she endures after being secretly taped. what she does when she enters a hotel room now. a wild chase.